Transportation
Stimulus Gets Transportation Projects Moving - In China
While the U.S. waffles over its stimulus package, China is two months into a grand countrywide transportation facelift, building high-speed rail, expanding freight capacity and generally beefing up the country's mobility.
15 Bold and Bizarre Parking Solutions
WebUrbanist brings together fifteen innovative, creative, and absurd experiments in parking, from VW's robot stacker to eco parking to parking meters on gravestones.
The Sprawl of Unsold Cars
The downturn in the economy has hurt the auto industry, leaving many cars unsold. Storage of these cars is becoming a problem for many automakers.
Tiny Bus for a Tiny City
Wannado City in Sawgrass Mills, FL, is a model city in a warehouse that gives kids a chance to play at having jobs. Broward County Transit has chipped in a mini bus, which drives around the city introducing kids to public transit.
Holistic Transportation Planning
This piece from Bloomberg architecture critic James Russell calls for a unified approach to building the nation's transportation infrastructure.
Last-Minute Bush Decision Paves Way For Privatization
An obscure new rule pushed through the Federal Highway Administration requires public toll roads to collect 'fair market value' from drivers, rather than to serve the public interest.
Emissions, Not Gas Prices, Increase Transit Use
Boise's degrading air quality and the fear it may lead to a loss in federal transportation funding is causing local governments to improve public transit options to get commuters out of their cars. The alternative, smog testing of cars, is resisted.
Friday Funny: Traffic Engineers Accommodate Cell Phone Users
In a new twist of "managed lanes", this comic looks at ways to accommodate cell phone users so as not to affect those not using their cells.
Portrait of a Cloverleaf
Granville Bridge was built in 1954 for a growing Vancouver, with giant cloverleaf offramps on each end. Today, the city has taken a different direction.
Does Detroit Have a Bright Transit Future?
Jon Zemke ponders the many possibilities for building a world-class transportation network throughout metro Detroit.
The Perils of 'Shovel-Ready' Projects
As the Federal government prepares to pour massive amounts of funding into road infrastructure, James Russell sends up a warning that the 'shovel-ready' projects may just be more bridges to nowhere.
Stimulus to Nowhere?
John Norquist, President and CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism, believes that President Obama should reconsider committing stimulus funds to decades-old freeway expansion projects and take transportation policy in a new direction.
Oregon Goes Big in Transportation Funding Requests
In Oregon, transportation officials are set to vote on an ambitious list of transportation projects that they hope will garner funding when Congress allocates transportation money this year.
Stimulus Disappoints Transit Advocates
Hopes are fading from transit enthusiasts who wanted to see high speed rail and public transit profit from Obama's stimulus package. Even the road lobby is disappointed that infrastructure will get less than tax cuts and state bail-outs.
NYT Pushes Hybrid Credits and Auto Scrapping
This editorial suggests three strategies to make the American auto fleet more efficient: renewing the hybrid tax credit program (many credits have been exhausted), pursuing a "cash for clunkers program", and increasing the gas tax to supplement CAFE.
Giving Highways New Life
The author of this article offers a few ideas on how to better use our 46,000 miles of highway. From the integration of rail lines to the development of electricity distribution grids, the interstate has more potential than it seems.
Even for SF, Congestion Pricing "Too Much"
This editorial argues that the San Francisco isn't ready for a complex scheme that the public dislikes, raises little funding, and would send an 'unwelcome' message to visitors.
High-Speed Rail Needs Private Investment
California's high-speed rail project is a triumph for rail advocates, but made possible by private sector funding. A Canadian rail project must also follow the model of public-private partnerships.
"Recovery Bill" Goes off the Rails
Paul Loeb and Deron Lovaas, Federal Transportation Policy Director for the Natural Resource Defense Council, pan the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" Bill for failing to adequately fund rail and road repairs.
Washington Metro Packed for Inaugural
With cars prohibited into the National Mall, and trains booked up for weeks, Washington's mass transit system was pushed to its limits this morning as people crammed in for the inauguration.
Pagination
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello